AN INTERESTING ARTICLE
My husband sent me an article a little while ago that he thought I'd find interesting - his words were "there's a blog post in this..." because he knows me so well - and it immediately drew me in to wanting to have a read, and then (of course!) to share the wisdom about how awe reshapes how we see ourselves.
The study was about people looking more intently and intentionally at the physical world around them, but I think it also applies to our emotional world too - appreciating all that makes up our day to day life.
THE AWE-WALK STUDY
A study asked people to spend fifteen minutes a week walking outdoors while deliberately looking for things that amazed them, and by the eighth week their selfies showed them smaller in the frame and smiling more.
THE SPOTLIGHT EFFECT
Usually, in a selfie the person is the subject and the place is the backdrop. As this particular study progressed, the scenery became less about proof of where the person had been, and took up more space because it felt more relevant.
The author commented that this was a different way of looking at the "spotlight effect" - our tendency to overestimate how closely other people are watching us. The awe-walk study showed that rather than taking themselves out of the spotlight, they could experience something interesting enough that the spotlight mattered less. What we pay attention to really does make a difference to how we interact with the world around us.
WHAT DOES PAYING ATTENTION TO SMALL THINGS DO?
One way to understand awe is that it does not erase the self or solve the concerns waiting at home, but for a few minutes, it changes the scale. The world becomes larger, the self becomes one part of it, and the frame has room for both.
I'm going to make a concious choice to notice the beauty around me as I walk, and wherever possible to find one good thing to take away with me from whatever situation I find myself in. It can be easy to pick fault and to notice the irritations, but how different would our day be if we chose to look past those and to notice the joy, the wonder, the sunshine, the grace, the warmth, and the good that's all around us just waiting to be found?
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Have you noticed any small, amazing, or awesome things lately? I've had two lots of duck families with their little ducklings in tow appear on my FB feed lately - and my heart smiled.
And from my morning walk - three kangaroos chilling out over the road from our house:
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Yes Leanne, it's all about noticing the little things for me too. I love seeing different things as I walk and even looking up through the trees at the sky can provide a real pick-me-up if I need it! Lovely to read of this article.
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